Ralph Doak's Research

The contents of this page were provided by cousin Ralph Doak.

On 17 April 2015, Ralph wrote:

1. Margaret Logan Morris cites a grand total of ZERO sources to back her assertion that Robert Doak was father of the James Doak who in 1786 m Janet Fulton, née Dunn.
2. The claimed 'sightings' of 'Robert Doak' in 1740 and 1753 have both been shown as cases of mistaken identity, and, in the latter instance, also of geography. Robert POAGE, not Doak, was the individual concerned both in 1740 and 1753
3. That means that the earliest mention of an adult Robert Doak in Augusta Co, VA, is the 1767 or 1768 Reedy Creek road petition, which was also signed by Robert's brother William, who administered his brother Robert's estate after his death early in August 1774
4. There is no record I have come across for a Robert Doak in either Chester Co or Lancaster Co, PA, prior to the Doaks' arrival ca 1738/9 in Augusta Co, VA... so was 'Robert Doak of Rockingham Co, VA' of another Doak family and somehow able to avoid mention in the records, including the Rockingham Co, VA, tax lists in both 1784 and 1787 ?
5. The nearest Maggie gets to a 'source' is a curious 'research note' of unknown provenance which also appears in 'A History of Rockbridge County' by Oren Morton, published in 1920, in the section of 'Miscellaneous Data'.
   
   That is not even a secondary source, and if you are relying on it to validate Maggie's claims of 'proof' you are sadly mistaken - it is 'questionable' in some respects as to factual accuracy as well as anonymous.

Therefore, I suggest that, unless you can show other reasons to back Maggie's claims re 'Robert Doak of Rockingham Co, VA', there is no reason for your cwcfamily.org/idl site not to feature a correction, details for which I will be happy to supply.

2 Jun 2015. I'm beginning this page of Ralph Doak's comments on Margaret (Logan) "Maggie" Morris' book today. Ralph has raised a number of questions and pointed out errors and dubious information in Mrs. Morris' book. Your comments are welcome on anything you see on this page, or in Maggie's book. I will be glad to add them to the page, along with Ralph's thoughts about whatever you might say. — Chuck Carey.

Ralph Doak's input has been welcomed in these pages for quite a while. You may wish to read his 2009 discussion of the mysterious Robert Doak. CC.